Relationship Issues
by ThouArtBenvolio
Summary: Tugger and Munkustrap share some brotherly love while discussing Tugger's homosexuality.


**A/N: okay so, like promised, I've made some changes to the now one-shot. I never realized just how many mistakes there were in this story! I uses semi-colons way too much, I said "wait" instead of "weight" (which is very uncommon for me), and I said "thought" instead of "though", which is a big pet-peeve of mine.**

**A quick thank-you to all the review-ers:**

**, Munkugirl, Misterfleas, Mutinykitty, and Tantamiri! :D**

Munkustrap was going for a walk the one evening, when he saw Tugger and Mistoffelees sitting together in a corner, arguing. He decided to see what was going on between them.

_Tugger has been acting so strange these days. I'd better go see what's happening this time…_

"Just admit it Misto. Stop hiding the truth!" Tugger looked up at his brother, who was standing above them. "Oh…Hi Munkustrap…" The Maine Coon paused his argument, and looked up at his older brother.

"What's going on with you two?" Munkustrap was determined to figure out exactly why his brother had been out-of-character lately.

"Munk, can I talk to you…?" the Rum Tum Tugger looked back to Mistoffelees, this time calm. "I need to talk to him…So, Misto, if you would excuse us?"

"Of course. But are you sure you don't want me here?"

"Nope. I really just need to be with my brother right now."

"Oh. Okay, sure thing." Misto got up, and walked away.

Waiting until he was sure Misto was out of ear-shot, Tugger turned to face Munkustrap. But before Tugger could even get a word in, Munkustrap started rambling.

"Okay Tug, so what's going on? You've been acting so different recently, and I'm…worried. Are you sick? Are you mad at someone? Are you mad at _me_? Did Macavity do something? Did you--"

"No, no, no, no, no! Listen to me…" Tugger stopped Munkustrap from carrying on.

Munkustrap nodded. He sat up straight, fixed himself up, and looked his little brother in the eyes. "Okay" is all he said.

"I'll tell you. Okay…but you have to promise me a few things."

Munk nodded once again.

"Promise me that you won't judge me…or treat me any differently than you are now.

"Sure Tug."

"I'm not done…Also promise that you won't hate me…or…make me leave the tribe…" By this time Tugger was actually…tearing. Munk noticed this, and started to worry even more. It was rare that The Rum Tum Tugger ever shed a single tear.

"Tugger, nothing in this world could ever make me hate you."

Tugger looked up at Munkustrap, his heart racing. This was it…The moment Tugger had always dreaded, but he knew this talk would have to happen one day. There was no backing out now…

"No making fun of me either!"

"I promise." Munkustrap said, putting on his best smile, hoping to make his brother more comfortable.

"Um…well…I'm…gay."

Munk's eyes grew wide.

"And I'm in love with Misto…" Tugger looked to the ground.

"Oh…wow! Are you guys a couple?"

"We were. But Misto's convinced that I don't truly love him." He sighed. "When he told me that he was leaving me, I was devastated. So I've been trying everything I can to persuade him otherwise, but nothing's worked."

Munk was absorbing it all in like a sponge. All of this new information was coming to him so fast, and Munk was lost for words. Still starring at Tugger wide-eyed, all his brain could come up with was. "Wow…I…" Not like it mattered though, Tugger continued to go on into detail.

"So I started to think about some of our issues and I remembered that Misto was really offended that I wouldn't tell you about our relationship. I mean, he told Vikki, but that's so different. She's still a kitten, so she doesn't quite understand it all. And come on, Misto and Victoria tell each other everything." He finally stopped, and took a deep breath; he was still tearing a little.

"Tugger, why are you upset? There's no need to feel ashamed."

"I'm not ashamed!"

"Tugger…"

"Fine, so I am ashamed. But not because I'm gay…I'm ashamed of letting you down…again…"

"What?" This was all news to Munkustrap.

"C'mon Munk. Let's face it. I'm always letting down our family and this tribe…" Tugger bent his head down in disgrace.

"Tugger…that's a whole bag of lies, and you know it! Everyone loves you here!"

"Seriously…Let's talk reality. There's Munkustrap, he's the perfect son, who has a perfect life, a perfect relationship, and does everything so perfectly!" He paused. "And when he's trying to keep the tribe so perfectly in order, there's only one thing in his way…That _thing_ is me, Tugger, the irresponsible younger brother who has nothing useful to do with his life…besides sleeping with all the queens…"

Munkustrap frowned on this. "Please, Tugger—"

"But wait! Tugger finally finds someone who can turn his life around…someone who will love him for himself, and not just his body. That special someone, if you didn't notice, is Misto. Seriously Munk. Do you know what it's like to have the love of your life tell you they don't wanna be with you? Of course not, because you and Demeter are—"

"—we're _what_ Tugger?" Munk was getting fed up with Tugger's rant.

"I was gunna say that you're perfect for each other, but whatever…"

Munkustrap couldn't take it anymore; it was as if he was going to explode. "Tugger! Shut up! How are you so convinced that my life is a perfect little fairy tale? Do you know how hard my responsibility for this tribe is?"

"Well, very hard, I suppose, with me always getting in the way of your perfection…"

"No Tug! You're barely the problem around here! And my life is _not_ perfect…I'm the one who needs to make sure Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer don't steal from anyone. I'm the one who needs to make sure the kittens don't make too much of a mess; that's including my daughter, Jemima, who I'm constantly watching every second. I need to protect Old Deuteronomy from any harm. And my father and mate are Macavity's main targets…!" Munkustrap finally came to an end, catching his breath.

"Well…'nuff said." Tugger looked down once again…

"Oh, and do you wanna know why I'm up all night, every night, because I can't sleep at all?"

"Why's that, Munk?"

"Because I'm worried about my little brother, wondering why the hell he's moping around all depressed all the time…I was so worried about you Tugger…"

"Wow…well um…you may find this hard to believe, but I haven't been sleeping either, every since Misto left me..."

_He really does have it hard. It must be difficult being gay, especially since he must not have too many options… _Munkustrap thought.

"I'm sorry Tugger…I really am."

"Once again, you can't relate to me whatsoever…"

"Tugger…"

"Munk, listen. I don't wanna do anything to make you hate me, but if you don't approve of me and Misto then—"

"—I already told you, Tug. I could never hate you…Besides, I'm fine with you being…gay…"

"Seriously?" Tugger lit up, both amazed and surprised by his brother's comment.

"I'll have you know that I'm very shocked, but that doesn't mean I disapprove at all."

"Wow. You really have no clue how much that means to me. You just lifted a giant weight off my shoulders. I just hope Misto will take me back now. It always bugged him that I refused to tell you…"

"I hope he takes you back too. I'm sick of seeing you all depressed."

"Munk?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…I've always been…sort of jealous of you."

"Oh boy…what for?"

"There were a lot of reasons. They always changed. But my point is that I was jealous of your relationship with Demeter."

"Here we go again…"

"No. I don't wanna argue. I just wanna tell you how I've been feeling. I always wondered what it was like to be in a real, committed relationship. When my love for Misto first came to me, that's when my jealousy of you started to arise. Just watching the way you could look Demeter in the eyes and say 'I love you'…I would have visions in my head of that moment and replace you and Deme with me and Misto. The picture would replay over and over all day, and I would always hope that someday it would be real." Tugger was actually really embarrassed with his confession. Munkustrap is the only one Tugger ever felt inferior to.

"That's deep Tug…really…"

"Then, not too long ago, me and Misto told each other how much we were in love with each other. But we were both certain that everyone would disapprove, so the only way for it to work was for it to be a secret. Soon, as I said before, Misto decided to tell Victoria, and I was fine with it. But when it came to me telling you…well, you know the rest."

"Tugger, please know that you can talk to me about anything."

"I know that now…but I just didn't know how you would react. If you ever hated me I don't know what I would do…Thank you so much."

"No problem, bro. Oh, and does Old Deuteronomy know about all of this…?" Munkustrap asked, the authority-figure inside him coming back.

"Um…about that…"

**Thank you all for re-reading this chapter. I hope you all liked it better now that I've revived it. And if this was your first time reading it, I also hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you think. :)**


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